AEW Weekly BreakDown June 17-23
Written By: Danny Albers
Dynamite 6/19
MJF’s first match back since his time off. He took on Rush who he’s engaged in some verbal back and forth with. This show really missed him. AEW was smart, and went commercial free for this match. This felt personal as the two beat the shit out of each other. Rush’s offense is so high-impact and devastating. It was a good win for MJF to build some momentum on him. It looks like Hechicero will be his match at Forbidden Door as well. That should be a lot more of a technical showcase than what we saw tonight. We then moved into an 8-man tag team match. Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’ Reilly, Orange Cassidy, and Dante Martin VS Kyle Fletcher, Roderick Strong, Konosuke Takeshita, and Zack Sabre Jr. What a difference a month makes for Roderick Strong. It feels like just a week ago Strong ran through Orange Cassidy for the International Championship. But not, Cassidy turned around and got himself some revenge on Strong. I hate these 8-man tags because it’s easy for multiple stars to get lost in the shuffle. That happened in this match as it really just tried to zero in on Cassidy and ZSJ’s feud for Forbidden Door
The Acclaimed came out to rap before their Eliminator match with the Young Bucks. Okada appeared on the big screen acting like he made a mistake on the sound. He hilariously called Max Caster a “bitch.” The Acclaimed would win the match against the champions to earn a future shot at the title. I’m surprised how dumb Tony Kahn is sometimes. What the heck is the point of having a top heel Tag Champions in the biggest storyline on the show if you’re going to have them lose clean to tag teams on television. The Bucks should have won, and if you want a title shot, have it at the pay per view.
The last two matches of the night were part of the Owen Hart Foundation tournament. Kris Statlander took on Nyla Rose. Rose had some strong moments in this match, but for the most part it was all Statlander. I’m not sure the last time Nyla Rose, a former AEW Women’s Champion, but it’s not been a good look for her. In between the Owen Hart Tournament matches, Daniel Garcia had a squash match. They’re really trying with DG, but something just feels like it’s missing. It doesn’t help that he’s been wrestling jobbers every week either. The main event featured the men’s tournament. A match between Pac and Claudio Castagnoli. AEW held no punches with this match. It was a great match won by Pac. If AEW puts time into Pac, he can be a great world champion with this company. He’s a superstar, and when he’s in a rhythm like he’s been there’s not many who can keep up with him in the ring.
Rampage 6/21
The show opened with an intriguing tag team between two high flying units. Private Party faced Metalik and Komader. Private Party is starting to gain a little momentum after getting one over on Jericho. This was a competitive match with a lot of counters, but a really great showing for Private Party. When these guys are serious, and getting a push, they are one of the best tag teams in wrestling. After the match, Private Party got into a scrap with Chris Jericho, Big Bill, and Bryan Keith, continuing the feud between them.
AEW played a video package showcasing Ultimo Guererro, who is facing Kazuchika Okada tomorrow. AEW should have been promoting him for the last couple weeks now if they wanted him to feel like an actual threat to Okada. When you play a video package the night before, it feels like you’re saying “here’s who Okada is going to beat tomorrow.”
Rey Fenix beat Turbo Floyd in a quick squash match. They’re trying to get him over before he takes on Jay White in the Owen Hart Tournament. The next match was between Lio Rush and Action Andretti. This match was for a spot in the TNT Ladder Match at Forbidden Door. This match felt more like a choreographed gymnastics meet. A lot of counters, and high flying maneuvers. Lio Rush would pick up the win, but it’s slowly feeling like he’s becoming a member of Top Flight.
Shingo Takagi took AR Fox next. This was a big spot for AR Fox who’s been off television since his small feud with Darby Allin. Shingo no sold a ton of offense from AR Fox, making him look weak. Takagi beating Fox feels like the first guy from NJPW to get a singles win on AEW television in a while. Bryan Danielson came down to the ring to face off with his opponents in the Owen Hart Tournament. Takagi wasn’t as happy to see Danielson as Bryan was.
The main event was an Owen Hart tournament. Serena Deeb faced Willow Nightingale. Deeb and Willow had a great match as the offense was stiff and felt real. Willow might be the biggest female star on the roster. She proved that she can get just as over as Mercedes or Toni in her feud with Mercedes last month. But now, she’s in a program with Kris Statlander, and they’re using the Owen Hart Tournament to heighten the stakes of the feud between the former best friends. This is excellent booking by AEW. There’s some excitement for her and Statlander’s match.
Collision 6/22
This was the final show before we enter Forbidden Door week. One would expect that AEW would attempt to make a clear match card for Sunday’s pay per view by progressing important storylines, but that’s not what we got on Saturday’s Collision. The show would kick off with Shibata joining Samoa Joe and Hook to take on the Premier Athletes. Joe and Hook have been menaces to the Premiere Athletes the last couple weeks. It was good to see Josh Woods back on AEW television. Woods reminds me of Matt Riddle, and can be a quality worker for AEW on the main card. With Shibata submitting Tony Nese, let hope Woods leaves the Premiere Athletes. A match between Joe, Hook, and Shibata against the Learning Tree has been made for Forbidden Door.
The next match was Chris Jericho and Bill facing Private Party. Just when we thought AEW was pushing Private Party, they book them to lose to the waste of time that is The Learning Tree. Everything about this faction sucks, and now we're hindering actual young talented teams to give Chris Jericho his moment. If Tony Kahn was smart, he’d buy out Jericho’s contract and send him off to do convention signing or WWE round table shows.
CMLL got a feature in a Continental Championship Eliminator match, as Kazuchika Okada faced Ultimo Guerrero. This is how you're going to build your mid-card stars, by having them put on bangers on a weekly basis. Okada has been the sidekick to the Bucks, who like Jericho, are a waste of time and money at this point for AEW. This was a bit of a dream match for wrestling fans as both men are legends of the business. Okada stayed in character, pulling off Ultimo Guerrero’s mask to score a Rainmaker for the win.
AEW continued to hit us over the head with The Patriarchy (Christian Cage, Killswitch, and Nick Wayne). They took on the Iron Savages, who at one point were a really cool tag team before they became perverted 80’s workout video instructors. They put on a comedy match for a faction that is supposed to be Collision’s main heel group, and it all felt pointless. The Patriarchy won, but AEW needed to save Nick Wayne, send him to ROH, and have him and Kyle Fletcher feud for the AEW championship. Imagine, you turn Nick Wayne baby face, and pin him against Christian after she disrespect Mama Wayne. You put Wayne over by having him beat Christian Cage at All Out, and beat Mark Briscoe at All In for the ROH title. Then moving into the end of 2024, you have him and Kyle Fletcher enter a multiple month program for the ROH World Title. The crowd could get behind this.
The lesbian love triangle continued as Mariah May and Toni Storm took on Leyla Hirsch and Lady Frost. Hirsch and Frost are getting featured more which I like. There is definitely room in this light AEW women’s division. I don't care what happens, this love triangle storyline has to end with Mariah May emerging as the new challenger and turning on Toni Storm. May would immediately become a top heel, and Toni Storm would only become more beloved by AEW fans.
If you want to see how to kill a prominent faction, take a look at what AEW did to House of Black. After Adam Copeland at 50 beat the young faction all by himself with a broken leg (Gangrel doesn’t count), the group is back to squash matches. That basically means Tony doesn’t know what to do with them. No Copeland is gone for a while due to his injury, and 3 great young talented wrestlers are stuck looking like My Chemical Romance on steroids. Good job Tony! Hechicero faced Daddy Magic next, which was a glorified squash match. Hechicero is now part of the Cage of Agony because they got him to fight MJF, even though all 3 guys are much bigger and nastier than Hechicero. So MJF will beat Hechicero at Forbidden Door, he will then probably follow that up by embarrassing Gates of Agony, sending them away for months while Tony finds someone else to lay down for MJF. I’m not sure what the entire point of this is, and there is no storyline going on at all.
So Brian Cage had to get help to take on MJF, but he’s all good to challenge Will Ospreay for the International Title. I liked this match despite the lazy booking. I think Cage and his power discrepancy over Will makes Ospreay have to slow the match down. The match eventually picked up, but it’s good to see Ospreay vulnerable against heels and have to overcome the mismatch. Swerve and Will Ospreay should be a good match, but I’m still confused as to why Ospreay is challenging Swerve, and not defending his International Title on a card featuring International superstars.
So going into the go home episodes before Forbidden Door, here is what appears to be the Forbidden Door card. I will put an arrow pointing up or down next to what seems interesting, and what I’m not really excited to watch.
Trios Match: The Learning Tree (Chris Jericho, Big Bill, Bryan Keith) VS Samoa Joe, Hook, & Katsuyori Shibata ↓
Owen Hart First Round Match; Bryan Danielson VS Shingo Takagi ↑
MJF VS Hechicero ↔
NJPW World TV Title: © Jeff Cobb VS TBD
IWGP World Heavyweight Title: © Jon Moxley VS Tetsuya Naito ↑
Zack Sabre Jr. VS Orange Cassidy ↑
AEW Women’s World Title: © Toni Storm VS Mina Shirakawa ↓
Winner Take’s All Match: AEW TBS Title & NJPW Strong Women’s Title: © Mercedes Mone VS Stephanie Vaquer ↑
TNT Title Ladder Match: Konosuke Takeshita VS Mark Briscoe VS Jack Perry VS Dante Martin VS Lio Rush VS TBD ↓
AEW World Title: © Swerve Strickland VS Will Ospreay ↑
Swerve Strickland taking on Will Ospreay is like having cheap sex with a girl you really want to spend the rest of your life with, but you know she has no intention of being in a relationship. This is not the time, nor the event for this match. As for the TNT ladder match, I hope Dante Martin doesn’t break something. Everytime we have a multiple person ladder match, either him or Rey Fenix get injured. Unless Moxley is losing, I don’t know how AEW is getting away with having both the Strong Women’s Title and the IWGP World Heavyweight Title in their possession.
Comments
Post a Comment